Sunday, June 9, 2013

Death of a Boys Choir

By Douglas Neslund

There is no way to
sugarcoat it: after 42 years of re-established life under the direction and
guidance of John R. Barron, the Pasadena Boys Choir is closing its doors. Mr.
Barron’s need to retire at the same time his more-than-able assistant, Bryon
Espina’s need to leave the choir program after 30 years of service due to a job
opportunity in his “real” career path (pharmaceuticals focused on defeating
cancers), and the inability of the leadership of Mr. Barron, Mr. Espina and
Mrs. Joanne Dickson to find a music director specialist in the art of Boychoir
to take the reins, led to the decision to close up shop.

In Mr. Barron’s remarks to
the audience, he cited changes in public school curriculum, the increasing diversification
of children’s after-school interests that limit their availability for
twice-a-week rehearsals, and the down economy of recent years as the primary
causes for a shrinking membership.

Decades ago, the choir
boasted a membership of 130 boys and a prominent place in Southern California
performing life. Perhaps the highlight of all was the choir’s performance and
recording of William Kraft’s Contextures II: The Final Beast with the Los
Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of André Previn in 1989,
recorded on Soundmark Records.

A 1981 self-published recording of Civil War
songs arranged by Alan Boehmer titled “The Union Forever” stands out as a
musical highlight in the suite of memories to be found in the choir’s trophy
case.

And so they gathered on a
beautiful Saturday afternoon at St. Edmund’s Episcopal Church in San Marino, to
hear the boys, bolstered by a dozen choir alumni sing again, to celebrate with
friends, alumni and family, and to weep together a little bit.

The music selected by Mr.
Espina, who also accompanied at the piano, was a potpourri of tunes performed
by the choir over the years, including folksongs, Broadway hits, serious
classical works (“Ave Maria” by Franz Biebl), and culminating with Ed Lojeski’s
arrangement of Alan Menken and David Zippel’s “Go the Distance.” The single
encore, with audience invited to sing-along, was Richard Rodger’s and Oscar
Hammerstein’s immortal “Edelweiss.”

The singing will continue
today, Sunday, June 9, 2013, for the final time. And for one last time, the
boys and alums, and their families and friends, will gather after the music
stops at the South Pasadena home of Mrs. Dickson, to relive old memories, to
re-establish old friendships, to pay homage to those who enriched their lives,
and to vow to hold a reunion someday …

A passing mention was made
earlier during the concert expressing the hope that “someone” would pick up the
pieces and again, re-establish the Pasadena Boys Choir as a rare and precious
resource for the Southern California music scene. Mr. Barron will hold open the
choir’s IRS non-profit 501(c)(3) status to keep that hope alive.